What does the Fox say this week?
“It would seem as though the Broncos would want to scheme to stop New England’s rushing attack and dare them to win through the air. But they have Tom Brady.”
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Brady VS Manning. Manning VS Brady. Two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks will square off Sunday in an eagerly anticipated AFC Championship game. Throughout the week the chatter both nationally and locally will be about them. Brady VS Manning. Manning VS Brady. More critical to the outcome of the upcoming tilt, however, will be the game plans prepared by the coaching staffs of both teams. For the Broncos it’s all about what the Fox says.
For John Fox the primary challenge will be anticipating New England’s game plan. A Belichick team is always tough to get a read on. The Patriots feature a passing offense one week – a rushing offense the next. They can beat you with their receivers, topple you with tight ends and run the ball right down your throat. They have a counter to your every strength and a plan to capitalize on your every weakness.
While the loss of Chris Harris at corner is severe blow it’s somewhat offset by the fact that New England really only has two quality wide outs – Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola. With the absence of Rob Gronkowski the Pats deep passing game has definitely suffered. They have made up for that relative weakness by utilizing their stable of running backs in creative ways. Shane Vereen has adapted the role of their pass-catching rusher out of the back field, Stephen Ridley acts as their typical first and second down type back and they have found great success using LeGarrette Blount as their big play third-down guy.
It would seem as though the Broncos would want to scheme to stop New England’s rushing attack and dare them to win through the air. But they have Tom Brady. He’s just good enough to get the ball down field regardless of how depleted the Pats may be offensively. Denver can’t sell out against the ground game.
To beat the Patriots the Broncos must be balanced both defensively and offensively. Most of all Denver cannot be predictable. This is where John Fox must rise to the challenge of facing Bill Belichick.
As much as we all love to hate the Dark Lord Belichick there’s simply no denying that he is the best coach in the NFL – probably ever. He’s deceptive, he’s creative and he’s smarter than everybody else. That’s why the Patriots are in the AFC Championship game. No other team has lost more quality players and come this far. Somehow Belichick finds away to close every hole through planning and coaching and scheming.
The Broncos have several clear advantages on paper. Coaching is not one. Denver’s offense is clearly superior to New England’s. As banged up as the Broncos are on defense they have lots of healthy targets on offense. If John Fox can create a game plan that utilizes these healthy weapons and keeps New England off balance there is no reason that they should not be able to outscore them by a significant margin – Chris Harris or no Chris Harris.
What does the Fox say? Well, whatever he says IT will be the key to beating the Patriots this Sunday – NOT what Peyton Manning does. If Fox puts Peyton in a position to win he will. No question about it.
